Rita Abrams

In 1970, Rita Abrams, a kindergarten teacher at Strawberry Point School, wrote a song for her students to sing with her. Through a series of events, the song, entitled “Mill Valley” and sung by Rita and the then-third grade class of Strawberry Point School, was recorded and became a nationwide hit. You can read about it at Tom McMahon’s blog and the Rita Abrams blog.

Purchase the CD on Amazon.com.

During the Mill Valley 4th of July celebration that year, a camera crew from Warner Bros. captured the event, directed by an unknown filmmaker named Francis Ford Coppola.

“Floating Away” was another song written and performed by Rita and her class in 1970. It features some brief nostalgic footage of Mill Valley and Strawberry. The video was recently posted on YouTube courtesy of Jason Lewis of MarinNostalgia.org.

In retrospect it seems a perfect idyllic start to the 70’s for Strawberry Point School.